But losing a "thing" can never be as bitter as losing a beloved person. Fond memories may mitigate the pain, but can never erase it. When hope is gone, what is left except courage?

Oh, Darling...blind doggedness, I guess, which is courage in a way. We do what we have to do. I have been rather--taken up--with loss, of one kind or another, in recent times, and I am just overwhelmed with what the human spirit can be dealt yet continue to persevere in some fashion.